V3 · Sonnet

Zarzeczebeneath Lake Goczałkowice

A house has an address; a keepsake changes it — provided we can prove it. Choose a thing and see which links in its history have a source and which are still only a story.

Things on this page: 1 Painting · 2 Monument · 3 Church · 4 Farmsteads · 5 Plaque 2023

Schematic: the painting changes address from the valley to a higher bank Schematic cross-section of a valley with a waterline. The dashed circle in the valley marks the former address according to V2; the solid square on the higher bank marks the place today. The dashed arc between them marks a connection to be verified. The empty dashed frame on the arc marks a painting of which we have no reproduction.
A schematic, not a map: no scale or directions, and the positions of the points are conventional. Circle — former address (per V2), square — today. Dashed arc: connection to be verified. Empty frame: we have no reproduction of the painting and do not draw it from memory.

Thing 1 · church furnishing

The painting of Our Lady of Gołyska

The painting’s present location — the Church of Christ the King in Chybie (a building from 1930) — is named in the municipality’s historical outline. The former address, the church in Zarzecze, is for now a V2 claim that needs confirming in a source.

From where
The parish church in Zarzecze, demolished in 1954. (per V2, to be verified)
Where today
The Church of Christ the King in Chybie. Opening hours and access: check with the custodian.
Schematic: a monument in the cemetery in Chybie, origin undetermined Schematic cross-section of a valley with a waterline. The dashed arc starts beyond the left edge of the drawing, because the monument’s former location is undetermined, and ends in a solid square on the higher bank, which marks the cemetery in Chybie. On the arc is a dashed column icon, not an image of the monument.
A schematic, not a map. The arc runs beyond the frame of the drawing because the monument’s former location is undetermined — we do not put a circle there. The column on the arc is an icon, not an image of the monument.

Thing 2 · monument

Monument to those killed in the First World War

The municipal outline mentions a monument in the cemetery. That it originally stood in Zarzecze and was moved before the flooding was stated by V2 as certain, but the source description in the package does not contain this.

From where
Undetermined. V2: the former village of Zarzecze (to be verified)
Where today
The cemetery in Chybie (per the municipal outline). Access: check with the cemetery administrator.
Schematic: a demolished church in the valley and a different church on the higher bank Schematic cross-section of a valley with a waterline. In the valley a dashed outline of a building is crossed out, which means demolition. On the higher bank stands an empty square, which marks a different church from 1930. No line connects them, because they are not the same building.
A schematic, not a map; the position of the building in the valley is conventional. Crossed-out outline: the building no longer exists (demolished in 1954 according to the TM account). The empty square is a different church, from 1930; no line connects them, because they are not the same building.

Thing 3 · building

The parish church in Zarzecze

The building was neither moved in its entirety nor does it stand under water: according to an account from 2009 it was demolished in 1954. The church in Chybie is a different building, from 1930. What of the Zarzecze furnishings ended up there is shown by thing 1.

From where
The valley floor, today within the reservoir; exact location unknown (per V2)
Where today
The building no longer exists. The former site — under water per V2; do not go down to the bed.
Schematic: buildings on the valley floor under water, with no relocated object Schematic cross-section of a valley with a waterline. On the valley floor under water stand three dotted outlines of houses; this is a sign, not a count of houses. On the side of the higher bank there is no mark, because the package describes no object moved from these houses.
A schematic, not a map. The three dotted outlines are a sign, not a count of houses: the number of farmsteads is unknown. On the right there is no mark — the package describes no object moved from these houses.

Thing 4 · buildings, not an object

The farmsteads of Zarzecze and Frelichów

This is not a thing to be moved but addresses that ended up in the basin of the reservoir. We show them to make the difference visible: a house has an address; a keepsake changes it.

From where
The floor of the Vistula valley: the farmsteads of Zarzecze and Frelichów, number unknown.
Where today
Beneath the surface of the reservoir. There is nothing to visit — do not go down to the bed.
Schematic: a modern trace on land that was not flooded Schematic cross-section of a valley with a waterline. On the left, higher bank stands a ring with a square in the middle, which marks a modern memorial trace in the unflooded part of the village unit (sołectwo). There is no arc, because the trace never changed address.
A schematic, not a map; position conventional. Ring with a square: the trace was created in 2023 in the unflooded part of the sołectwo, so it has no former address that it could have changed.

Thing 5 · a modern memorial trace

The commemorative plaque at the Village Integration Centre

Zarzecze continues as a village unit (sołectwo) of the Chybie municipality. On 20 August 2023 the 800th anniversary of the first mention (1223) was celebrated and a plaque was unveiled. It is a new memorial trace, not a keepsake from a former home.

From where
Not applicable: the plaque was made in 2023 and does not come from a former address.
Where today
At the Zarzecze Village Integration Centre (per V2: the unflooded part of the sołectwo). Access: check with the custodian.
  • In source description — the source description collected in the package mentions this fact.
  • Per V2 · to be verified — V2 claims this, and the source descriptions in the package do not confirm it directly.
  • Unconfirmed — no data in the package; this is not zero and not proof that nothing exists.
  • Not applicable — the trace does not come from a former home, so the link does not apply.

The sources were not reopened when this page was built.

Check a claim

Local memory merges the expropriation (1951), the displacement (1954), the flooding (1955) and the opening of the reservoir (1956) into one “submersion”. Choose a sentence you have heard and, optionally, a year.

Optional, from 1000 to 2100. An empty field is not year zero — the chronology is then not checked.

Not checked yet

Choose a claim and press “Check”.

All claims and their basis
  • The church from Zarzecze was moved in its entirety to Chybie.Contradicted by the sourceAccording to the TM Zarzecza account (2009 reunion), the Zarzecze church was demolished in 1954; the church in Chybie dates from 1930 (municipal outline). At most some furnishings may have reached Chybie — see thing 1.
  • The church stands under water.Contradicted by the sourceThe package describes no standing building under water; per TM the church was demolished in 1954, before the flooding, which V2 dates to 1955. What remained on the bed — no data.
  • The church in Zarzecze was demolished in 1954.Consistent with the source descriptionConsistent with the TM Zarzecza account (2009 reunion). It is an account, not a demolition record — there is no official document in the package.
  • The painting from the Zarzecze church is in Chybie today.To be verifiedThe painting in the Church of Christ the King in Chybie is named in the municipal outline. That it comes from the church in Zarzecze was claimed by V2; the source descriptions in the package do not link these facts directly.
  • Zarzecze ceased to exist after the flooding.Contradicted by the sourceA considerable part of the buildings of Zarzecze and Frelichów was flooded (municipal outline), but the sołectwo of Zarzecze continues in the Chybie municipality; on 20 August 2023 the 800th anniversary of the first mention (1223) was celebrated.
  • The flooding took place in 1951.Contradicted by the sourceIn 1951 (5 July) an expropriation notice was issued and a site plan was drawn up (Katowice State Archive). Works lasted 1950–1955; V2 dates the flooding to 1955 and the opening to 1956.
  • The monument was moved in its entirety from Zarzecze to Chybie.To be verifiedThe municipal outline mentions a monument in the cemetery in Chybie. The origin in Zarzecze, the move “in its entirety” and its reason are V2 content that the source description does not confirm; we do not know the date of the move.
  • Intact houses lie on the bed.No basis in the materialThe package does not describe the condition of the buildings under water or before filling — neither “intact houses” nor “only foundations” has any support here. This is missing data, not proof that nothing exists.
  • You can go down to the bed and look at the remains.No permission for the activityThis page gives neither permission nor guidance. The precaution applies: do not go down onto the exposed bed and do not plan any exploration of the water body; the rules for being near the water are set by the administrator.

Dates supported by the package

A list, not a scale: the gaps between dates are not proportional to time. The year entered highlights matching entries.

  1. 1223First source mention of Zarzecze Chybie municipality
  2. 1862Parish registers, a document of the Zarzecze parish Katowice State Archive
  3. 1930Church of Christ the King in Chybie Chybie municipality
  4. 1950–55Construction of the reservoir Katowice State Archive
  5. 19515 July: expropriation notice; site plan Katowice State Archive
  6. 1954Displacement of residents and demolition of the church TM account, 2009 reunion
  7. 1955Flooding of the valley floor per V2 · to be verified on the State Archive panel
  8. 1956Opening of the reservoir Katowice State Archive
  9. 2009Reunion and 55th anniversary of the displacement TM Zarzecza
  10. 202320 August: celebration of the 800th anniversary, unveiling of the plaque Chybie municipality
No date — outside the listTransfer of the painting to Chybie · transfer of the monument to the cemetery · erection of the monument · condition of the buildings just before the reservoir was filled. The package gives no years for them; an unknown date is neither year zero nor a “late” point on the list.

Do you have something from Zarzecze at home?

This draft does not collect submissions and saves nothing in the browser. The list shows what the editors would need to see before a family story could be called documented provenance. The submission channel is set by the Atlas editors; we give no address or form here.

The interactive checklist requires JavaScript, so it is switched off here. The levels described below run from a family story (no document) to a document pointing to the former home and a known place today.

What do you have in hand? Tick only what can be shown.

Family story (hypothesis)

You can write: “according to family tradition…”, with the name of the narrator and the year it was recorded. You cannot write that the object comes from a particular house.

Without rights to a photograph: a verbal description or a schematic drawing, as on this page.

  1. Family story (hypothesis)No document mentioning the object. Valuable, but marked as a hypothesis in print.
  2. Object documented, provenance notA document mentions the object but does not link it to a house.
  3. Provenance documented provisionallyA document points to the former place; the editors have not yet checked it.
  4. Today and formerly — to discuss with the editorsBoth places are known; publication still requires the document to be checked.

The owner’s present address and contact details are never published. The former address from a document — yes, if the document can be shown.

Limits and sources

What this page does not do

  • The drawings are schematics, not maps; they have no scale or directions.
  • It gives no permission to go onto the water, onto the exposed bed or to explore the water body. The rules for being there are set by the administrator.
  • It gives no opening hours or conditions of entry to the church, the cemetery or the Village Integration Centre — check these with the administrators.
  • It embeds no photograph: we have no photograph of any of these things with an established right to publish.
  • Reservoir: works 1950–1955, opening 1956 per the State Archive. The functions of the reservoir (drinking water, retention) were given by V2 — to be verified.

Changes relative to V2

  • The local register of keepsakes (localStorage) was removed — it was replaced by the list above, which saves no data.
  • The checker was reduced: one claim and an optional year instead of four drop-down lists.
  • V2 sentences with no support in the source descriptions (e.g. the monument “in its entirety”, houses “razed to the ground”) are marked “per V2”.

Sources (descriptions collected in V2; not reopened)

  1. Archiwum Państwowe w Katowicach, “U źródeł Wisły” [State Archive in Katowice, At the sources of the Vistula]Panel 5: construction works 1950–1955, opening 1956, site plan of 1951, expropriation notice of 5 July 1951, parish registers of 1862.
  2. Gmina Chybie, “Zarys historyczny” [Chybie municipality, Historical outline]First mention in 1223, flooding of a considerable part of the buildings of Zarzecze and Frelichów, the Church of Christ the King of 1930 with the painting of Our Lady of Gołyska, a monument to those killed in the First World War in the cemetery.
  3. Towarzystwo Miłośników Zarzecza, “55-lecie wysiedlenia” [Zarzecze Society (TM), 55th anniversary of the displacement]Account of the 2009 reunion: 1954 as the date of the displacement of residents and the demolition of the Zarzecze church.
  4. Gmina Chybie, “Jubileusz 800-lecia Zarzecza” (2023) [Chybie municipality, Jubilee of the 800th anniversary of Zarzecze]Celebrations of 20 August 2023 at the Zarzecze Village Integration Centre, unveiling of the commemorative plaque and the continued existence of the sołectwo.
  5. Jezioro Goczałkowickie — widok z Zarzecza, 27 lipca 2023 [Lake Goczałkowice — view from Zarzecze, 27 July 2023]Photo: Kamil Czaiński, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Link only, not embedded; the photograph shows the present-day reservoir, not the former buildings.